Investigation of the mathematical thoughts of middle school 7th grade students with different cultural values: An ethnomathematics practice

The purpose of this study is to investigate the mathematical thoughts of middle school 7th grade students with different cultural values through an ethnomatematics activity. Ethnographic case study research design was adopted in this study conducted within the scope of qualitative research approach. The schools and the participants of the research were determined by purposive sampling method. The participants of the study consisted of a total of five students from seventh grade students studying in a public school in Odunpazarı district of Eskişehir province and two public schools in Silifke district of Mersin in 2017-2018 academic year. The research data obtained from the students through the ethnomatematic activity were described and analyzed within the context of the middle school mathematics curriculum and the conceptual framework determined before the research. As a result of the data analysis, besides the mathematical knowledge and thinking processes that students have learned within the scope of school mathematics, they have been using mathematical knowledge and following mathematical thought processes that they have not learned within the scope of school mathematics. In addition, there are differences between students' mathematical skills depending on the activities in their cultures. Keywords: Mathematics education, Ethnomathematics, Culture, Mathematical thinking, Problem solving.